


Four Birthdays Charles Gunn Had and One He Didn't

by viciouswishes



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-10-13
Updated: 2005-10-13
Packaged: 2019-02-15 10:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13028868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viciouswishes/pseuds/viciouswishes
Summary: Setting: various, spoilers for "Not Fade Away."A/N: For fanfic100 birthday prompt.





	Four Birthdays Charles Gunn Had and One He Didn't

On Gunn's 60th birthday, Illyria laid flowers on his grave. She wore Fred's face, but with a hint of blue so he didn't forget who she was. "He was brave," she said to the elderly woman passing her in widow's clothing, she said to really no one. Fred would cry, but Illyria didn’t. She honored a fallen comrade. 

Gunn always figured that he'd wait until he was 30-years-old before thinking about marriage, but he doesn't live that long. He didn't tell the others that on the day before the battle, he asked Anne to marry him. It seemed important; a way to get back to the neighborhood, a way to focus on the future that fighting with Angel didn't allow. But Anne had laughed and told him that he could start with a date that weekend. 

Gwen didn't know that the night she took Gunn out to find L.I.S.A. was another notch, another year for him. Gunn liked the feel of the tux, of Gwen on his arm, of her under him. She'd been the one to kill him with all that power; it only seemed right that he'd take her virginity. 

Cordelia presented him with a chocolate cake the year Angel left them on their own. She was so excited Gunn thought she'd blow out the candles before he did. Apparently, working legally required letting people know when your birthday was. Gunn watched Wesley relax in his wheelchair, smiling. They were family and those were in their own way, the good days. 

Five days after his mother died, Gunn turned 14. He sat in the courtroom in his best clothing, starched by his Aunt Louise, and watched as the drunk driver who killed his mother got out on bail. Alonna had wanted to go, but she'd been too young. Aunt Louise and he brought her a Happy Meal from McDonalds afterward. Alonna had hugged him and said, "Happy Birthday, Charlie." 

Gunn preferred the birthday celebration he'd had at Wolfram & Hart, which included a card from his secretary and a pile of legal documents.


End file.
